


Red Dancing Hood

by Asdrator



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Fairy Tale Parody, Fluff and Humor, Pre-Relationship, did I mention this is little red riding hood, febail and diarmuid are together but it’s background, lene thinks monsters are hot and ares thinks she’s a weirdo, lene’s father is left unsaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asdrator/pseuds/Asdrator
Summary: Lene finally lives on the opposite side of a forest from her mother, who she hasn’t seen for many years. When she attracts the attention of Ares, a werewolf, while going to visit her mother, things don’t go as he thinks they will.
Relationships: Aless | Ares/Leen | Lene
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Red Dancing Hood

In a small, lonely house somewhere on the outskirts of the woods of Agustria, a young woman by the name of Lene lived alone with her brother, Coirpre. They had long been separated from their mother due to unfortunate circumstances, and had moved into this house to meet her for the first time, as she lived down a long, narrow path through the forest between their houses. Lene had considered just moving in with her, but had ultimately decided to maintain her independence, and opted instead to visit her mother regularly. Mother only gave her one rule for visiting:  _ never  _ step off the forest path.

So it was that one fine morning Lene found herself making her first ever journey alongthe woodland path, wearing a red cloak with its hood over her head, and carrying a basket in one of her hands, as she hummed a merry tune. In the basket was a bunch of delightful treats she’d made for her mother for them to share now that they were finally about to be reunited. Lene had considered bringing Coirpre with her for this visit, but he had chosen to stay at home, telling Lene that he had a bad feeling about the forest today. He’d always had funny feelings, and they were right more often than Lene would like, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. She’d looked for their mother for so long, nothing under the heavens could keep her from finally meeting her given the opportunity.

That said… Lene was quickly growing bored of the seeming sameness of every inch of the path, and the sun was still rising in the sky. Surely she couldn’t let such a beautiful morning as this be so dull and bland, especially when she had plenty of time to spare. What mother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, either. Deciding that a little adventure to make things exciting and liven up the day would do her some good, she stepped off the path at a random spot, going between the trees and feeling mildly rejuvenated by the change in surroundings already. It was not long before the path behind her was out of sight entirely, as Lene went deeper into the twisting, labyrinthine forest, without any regard for the advice she had been given.

As she went through the unfamiliar forest, a songbird perched on her shoulder, making her stop as it did so. Lene giggled and gently petted the top of the bird’s head, before it took off and flew into the distance. Animals had always trusted Lene, and she was never in much danger from them, so long as she made an effort to understand them. That ability to understand was something that could be acquired by a lot of people, although shamefully few used it, even when it came to other people. Lene, however, had a natural talent when it came to understanding both: animals and people alike, she knew their moods, their desires, their fears. It was generally a good idea, she found, to be well liked rather than disliked, both in nature and in civilization, though in the latter there were some she just wished would leave her be.

Unbeknownst to her, however, nature had an odd sense of humor today, and trickery was about to be afoot.

The first unexpected occurrence on her journey was running into a stranger. While there were people aplenty on the outskirts of the wilderness, few ever actually went this far in. He was a handsome young man, with long blonde hair down to his back and a muscular build, made more difficult to detect by the black coat and long, loose white pants he wore. A branch snapped under Lene’s foot as she approached and he slowly turned to face her, as though completely without fear of possible danger. She finally saw his eyes; the gaze of his golden eyes pierced right through her, but did not seem hostile, only curious. He had to turn his head down slightly to look her in the eyes, being at least a head taller than her, and possibly more. An ordinary person might describe someone like him as intimidating, or at least worthy of caution.

Lene, however, was no ordinary person, a fact that she was quite proud of, though occasionally finding reason to regret it.

To her, while there may be no smiles or great warmth coming from him, he wasn’t scary in the slightest. He was strong, that much was clear, and stared a bit much for his own good, but Lene knew that neither of those defined a person, knew that more often danger came cloaked in sinister smiles and honeyed words. So, without flinching in the slightest, she extended a hand to the mysterious stranger with a small smile. “Hi! I’m Lene. I just moved into the area recently so I’m afraid I don’t know many people around here. What’s your name?”

For some reason he frowned as he looked at her hand, and that put Lene’s mood somewhere between anxious and irritated. Was he raised by wolves or something? She prayed to the heavens that he at least knew what a handshake was, or this would be very awkward. At last he gingerly took her hand in both of his own and shook it slowly and gently, as though out of practice. “...Ares.” He said slowly, as though forcing the word out. “My name is Ares. Why are you all the way out here? These woods aren’t safe enough for people to just wander around on their own.”

“Right back at you,” Lene countered, rolling her eyes. “You can’t exactly tell me that when you’re doing the same thing.”

“...I’m different.”

“Suuuuuure, and I’m Naga come down from the heavens. Get real.” Lene jabbed a finger into his chest and glared up at him in defiance, which only seemed to make him confused. “Come on, if you’re looking for a fight, just say so.”

“You aren’t… scared of me?” Now Ares was really bewildered.

“Huh? No, of course not.” Lene paused a moment, then realized what he meant. “What, you think I’d let myself be intimidated by somebody’s appearance? Something like that isn’t scary at all. It’s the desires of people that are really terrifying, you know?”

“That makes a surprising amount of sense.” Ares stated bluntly. “I hadn’t expected that from you.”

“Gee, thanks.” Lene shoved him lightly to get back at him, though it didn’t move Ares an inch. “Well, anyways, I have to be on my way now. It was nice meeting you Ares, even if you could stand to think before you speak more often.”

“Pot, meet kettle.” Ares shot back, causing Lene to snort with laughter. “You really are a strange person. I hope we meet again.”

“Same to you.” Lene replied cheerfully. “Not many people I can really talk to around here, so this was interesting.” She glanced around looking for the way back. “Anyways, I should be going now. I was on my way to see my mother.”

Upon hearing that, his expression grew more serious and he tilted his head to the side as if considering something. “Make sure you stay safe, Lene. It would be a shame if something terrible were to happen to you so soon after we’ve met.”

“That a threat?”

“Not really. Just consider it a funny feeling of mine, nothing more.” Without another word, Ares left the clearing so quickly and relatively soundlessly he may as well have vanished.

“Wait-“ Just as soon as Lene realized, he was already gone. “Damn him, but he moves fast.” Men and their ‘funny feelings.’ What good was worrying about any of that if there wasn’t any basis for it?

Continuing to search from side to side, she realized that at some point during their conversation, she had lost track of the way back.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that she didn’t know exactly where she was, either.

All that was left was for her to whisper a single word to nobody in particular.

“Fuck.”

—————————————————————

After wandering around aimlessly for around an hour, hoping to find a way out without actually believing that she would anytime soon, Lene came across a campfire in a clearing just ahead of her. Stepping between the trees, she entered the area to find a man dressed in the outfit of a hunter, along with an axe at his side and a bow on his back. His golden blonde hair hung down neatly, and a white headband was wrapped around the top of his head. “Hm? Who’s there?” He called out the moment Lene came into view, reaching for his axe. After a tense moment, he relaxed his hand and moved it back to where it had been. “Ah, just a person. Scared me for a moment there. I’m Febail, what’s your name?”

“Lene, I live around here. Though… what do you mean by ‘just a person’?” It seemed odd to Lene; what else was shaped like a person in Agustria except for people?

“Good to meet you Lene.” Febail glanced at his axe, then back at her. “As for what, I feared you might be a werewolf. I’ve heard reports of one in these woods, and you never can be too careful.”

“A werewolf? Here?” Admittedly, Lene hadn’t done much research when moving here, but she’d never expected to be told  _ that. _

“Aye. Most are a reasonable sort, but some…” Febail hesitated briefly, but continued. “Well, some get awful hungry, try to eat people, the whole deal. Not that I can blame them, given that some ordinary folk hunt them for sport. You get the idea.” After studying Lene for a moment, he frowned. “Anyway, there a reason you’re all the way out here? Even locals usually don’t come this far in.”

Immediately, Lene’s face turned bright red with embarrassment. “Listen, just do me a favor and just don’t worry about that, will you?”

“You’re lost, aren’t you?”

“Keep talking and the only thing lost is gonna be your fingers.” She warned, although she doubted she looked very threatening, now or ever.

Fortunately, it seemed to amuse Febail rather than irritate him. “Ha! I like your attitude.” Standing up, he walked a few steps closer, his axe gleaming in the thin rays of sunlight, before offering his hand to her. “Just cause you’re interesting, I’ll help you out, guide you back to the main path and all that. What do you say?”

What else could she say, no? “That’s very generous of you, so I’ll take you up on it. Though if you say that I was lost to anyone, I’ll beat you up, got it?” Before he could answer, she took his hand and shook it, her grip as tight as she could manage, which is to say he barely felt it.

Simply laughing again at her threat, he put out the campfire and turned in a particular direction. “C’mon, follow me, else you’ll regret it.” He didn’t have to specify the how or why of the potential regret; they both knew she didn’t want to spend another second with no idea of where to go.

Feeling like she won, Lene happily complied and followed close behind him as he began to keep his word and lead her back.

Soon enough, finding herself returned to the path through the woods, Lene bid farewell to Febail.

Little did she know, that wasn’t the last she’d be seeing of him that day.

—————————————————————

At long last, Lene could see her mother’s house before her, a simple building with a single door at the front and a window on each side of it. After reaching it, she knocked on the door one, two, three times.

No answer.

Frowning, she tried again, but there was no answer still. Perhaps mother wasn’t home? Assuming that to be the case, she tried opening the door herself to let herself in, so that she could wait for her mother indoors.

However, immediately after entering, she heard the sound of hurried movement and rustling coming from the bedroom. Perhaps mother was busy? It was rather rude of her to not answer the door though. Still, here was Lene’s chance to finally see her again, and she took it, going towards the bedroom door and opening it.

The sight that greeted her was one she never would have expected in a million years.

In what was presumably her mother’s bed sat what was obviously, or at least seemed to be, a wolf wearing a terrible face mask and a green wig, with the covers over his lower body. A window just above the bed shined light into the room. “H-hello, dearie…” He said in his highest, squeakiest voice, which still came out like a growl. “What brings you here today?”

“Is this some sort of joke?” Lene asked, not even bothering to suppress her grin. “Because if it is, I love it so much.”

“Uh… no?” The wolf replied, unsure of how to respond. “Why do you ask?”

“Right, right, of course, ‘mom.’” Lene rolled her eyes as a giggle escaped her. “Hold on, does she keeps a camera around here? God, I hope so.” Looking around without any luck, she turned back to the wolf, glee on her face. “Who are you really, by the way? And don’t keep saying you’re my mom or I’ll kick you.”

“I…” The wolf hesitated, but finally decided there was no point to pretending anymore. He ripped off the awful disguise, exposing his near monstrous visage, eerily not like that of a normal wolf. “I’m Ares, and I’m a werewolf.” He leaped out of the covers, standing on four feet on the bed, a tall, towering creature with claws sharper than knives. Twisted fangs hung down menacingly from his mouth, ready to pierce flesh and bone. “Do you fear me now, human? You should.”

Once again, however, he found himself stunned, seeing that instead of feeling any sort of terror there was  _ excitement _ in Lene’s eyes. “My, what big  _ teeth _ you have!” She all but gasped, only drawing closer to him.

“What?”

“And what big  _ eyes _ you have!”

“ _ Huh? _ ”

“Oh, and what big  _ hands _ you have!” Lene exclaimed with a gleam in her eyes, taking his hands in her own.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Ares cursed, utterly exasperated. “What is  _ with _ you?”

“Huh?” Lene blinked, then realized what he was asking. “Oh, well, I’ve always had a thing for big furry wolf men who could eat me, you know? If I’d known one lived in this forest I’d have had even more reason to move here.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.” Ares said in complete confusion. It had been a long day, in no small part thanks to the woman before him. To spare himself more unnecessary trouble, he began to shift back into human form.

“Wait, no!” Lene pleaded. “C’mon, you look amazing like that!” When he turned back fully, she began to pout. “Ugh, you’re no fun.”

Just moments after, the window in the bedroom shattered as Febail burst into the room, axe drawn. “Alright, where’s the werewolf I saw?! I won’t let you eat her!”

Lene shrieked at his sudden appearance while Ares rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh, that’d be me. Though, I wasn’t planning to eat anybody.”

Seeing Ares gave Febail pause, and he lowered his axe while squinting at him. “Wait, don’t I know you from somewhere?”

A flash of recognition went through Ares’s eyes, and he looked away, clearly not wanting to have this conversation. “Ah, it’s you Febail. I may have…  _ walked in _ on you and Diarmuid once.”

“ _ Oh. _ ” Febail went bright red immediately. Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. A painful silence fell over the room, which Febail soon broke with a cough. “So, uh, what are you doing here.”

“Well, I was going to steal all the food from this house cause I’m hungry, but Lene here came by before I could finish, so I tried to disguise myself as her mother based on a picture I saw, but…” A light blush appeared on Ares’s cheeks. “It didn’t really work out.”

“He got caught immediately because he had an awful disguise and is terrible at impressions.” Lene chimed in.

“You  _ really _ didn’t have to tell him that.” Ares groaned.

Glancing at the stretched out and discarded mask, Febail put two and two together and snorted. “So why didn’t you switch back to human form for the disguise?”

“I figured it probably wouldn’t succeed so I wanted to have a backup plan ready.” At this Ares looked at Lene cautiously. “It didn’t scare her, but it did have an  _ unintended _ side effect.”

“I think wolf men are extremely hot.” Lene finished for him, to Ares’s chagrin. “By the way, how’d you know my mom owned this house?”

“Well, I’ve been keeping an eye on this place for a while, so I’ve seen her before.” Ares admitted. “When I met you today, you looked so much like her that I figured it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

“Huh. Well, good to know I guess.” Lene glanced at the shards of glass at the other end of the room. “Shame about the window though. Mom’s probably gonna be pissed.”

“Yeah, it might be a good idea for me to leave now.” Febail said, suddenly nervous. “Tell your mom I’m sorry about all that. Thought you were going to get eaten.”

Before Lene could respond, the sound of footsteps came to the door, causing them all to freeze. “Oh gods, not another one.” Ares muttered out of sheer frustration.

Unfortunately for him, no god in the heavens would save him from this one.

At the door appeared Sylvia herself, who just as Ares had said looked much like an older Lene. Carrying a bag in her hand, she was startled at the presence of the three of them. “Who  _ are _ you people?”

—————————————————————

After convincing Sylvia not to hit the two men with a broom and proper introductions were made, Lene found her mother to be much less panicked. Which, she learned, wasn’t to her own benefit. “So, Lene…” Sylvia began, and despite having just met her a few minutes ago Lene already knew that she was using a teasing tone. “Is this guy your boyfriend?” She gestured at Ares, causing him to blink quickly in surprise.

“Unfortunately, no.” Lene sighed, placing her head against her hand pensively. “He is very handsome, though, isn’t he?”

“He sure is. Lucky you, huh?” With a giggle, Sylvia went up the Ares, an obviously fake smile and cheeriness on her face. When she was next to him, she whispered very quietly into his ear: “You break her heart, and I break your knees.”

Gulping, Ares nodded. “Yes ma’am.” These two could be as scary as they were beautiful.

“Wonderful. Then, Ares, Febail, why don’t you join Lene and I for dinner? I’ll consider that repayment for my  _ window. _ ” She pronounced the last word with a clear line of irritation in her voice. Nothing escaped her notice, it seemed. Before they could respond, she skipped over to the doorway of the room and waved to them. “Okay, great! It’ll be ready soon enough, so make yourselves at home!”

Suddenly, Ares went pale as a ghost. “I need to go. Now.”

“What? Why? Is something the matter?” Lene asked, concerned for him.

“You remember how I said you interrupted me before I could  _ finish _ ? Well…”

“Oh, gods.” Lene sighed, slapping her palm to her face. “You made a mess of her kitchen didn’t you?”

“AREEEEEEEEEEES!”

Before Ares could scramble safely out the window, Sylvia was already back at the doorway, a frying pan in her hand and a look of pure fury on her face. “Prepare to die, you bastard!” Screaming in rage as Ares screamed out of sheer terror, she raised the frying pan high over her head, preparing to bring it down upon him to exact her revenge.

Fortunately, nobody actually died that day, in large part thanks to Lene’s selfless intervention. However, some say that, in the end, the wolf came to love the pretty green-haired red riding hood who had already fallen for him.

Their life continued to be full of mishaps, hijinks, and wild adventures, those stories go on to tell, but through it all they supported and cared for one another.

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this. Anyways, now back to writing Ares being a vampire


End file.
